The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Frederick Holland. Holland was drafted in April 1942 into the Army. From there, he applied for a transfer to the Army Air Forces and was accepted. He attended officer candidate school and earned a commission in early 1943. Then, he was flown to India and worked in Calcutta seeing that equipment and supplies were loaded and flown to other bases in India. Holland developed a conveyor mechanism that assisted in loading cargo onto planes while overseas. He returned to the US and was discharged in February 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Kenneth Johnsen. Johnsen joined the Army Air Corps in August of 1940. He worked as a clerk and postal inspector for the Army at Scott Field, Illinois. He graduated in August of 1942 from the Flying Sergeant Program. He opted not to be a pilot and immediately transferred to the 426th Army Air Forces Band in Waco, Texas as a trombonist. They were sent to San Marcos and provided music for the marching soldiers, the black soldiers in their compound and the white soldiers in theirs, as they were not integrated at that time. In 1945 they went to Calcutta and New Delhi, India where they played music and concerts for the enlisted men and officers. They also played at the rest and recuperation camps in the Himalaya Mountains. On the troop ship he served guard duty, and he provides details of those experiences. He was discharged in October of 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with William Lesko. Lesko was drafted into the Army Air Forces in August of 1943. He was trained in long-range navigation [LORAN] radar. In February 1945 he went to Calcutta, India aboard the USS General W. A. Mann (AP-112). He worked on C-46s as a radar and radio technician in the 13th Squadron, 4th Combat Cargo Group. He describes his work on the planes. His unit also went to Myitkyina, Burma, where he assisted in setting up the camp and building bridges. The pilots in his unit flew out of these bases to provide supplies to troops in combat zones. Lesko describes primitive life at the camps. He was discharged in April of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Tom Peays. Peays served as a pilot with the Air Transport Command in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. He joined the Civilian Pilot Training Program in Lubbock, Texas in 1940. He received his commercial pilot’s license and joined the Army Air Forces primary training program in 1941. He received his instructor’s rating and served as a flight instructor for aviation cadets in 1942. He went to the Air Transport Command in Dallas and took a civilian job flying military airplanes throughout the US. In 1943 Peays was commissioned as a flight officer. He flew B-24s, B-25s, C-54s, C-87s. He received his training in Homestead, Florida. In December of 1943 he was sent to Calcutta with a C-54 crew. He shares details of his travels, flying through various weather conditions, hauling high-octane aviation fuel. He traveled across the Himalayas and Burma where he encountered Japanese Zeros. He served in the China-Burma-India Theater as a pilot from 1944 through 1945, and was discharged in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Tom Peays. Peays served as a pilot with the Air Transport Command in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. He joined the Civilian Pilot Training Program in Lubbock, Texas in 1940. He received his commercial pilot’s license and joined the Army Air Forces primary training program in 1941. He received his instructor’s rating and served as a flight instructor for aviation cadets in 1942. He went to the Air Transport Command in Dallas and took a civilian job flying military airplanes throughout the US. In 1943 Peays was commissioned as a flight officer. He flew B-24s, B-25s, C-54s, C-87s. He received his training in Homestead, Florida. In December of 1943 he was sent to Calcutta with a C-54 crew. He shares details of his travels, flying through various weather conditions, hauling high-octane aviation fuel. He traveled across the Himalayas and Burma where he encountered Japanese Zeros. He served in the China-Burma-India Theater as a pilot from 1944 through 1945, and was discharged in March of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Robert Sinks. Sink was in the Naval Reserve when called up and then trained at Corpus Christi as a meteorologist. He volunteered for duty in China, arriving Chungking in 1944. Sinks eventually headed into the country to establish a weather station in Fujian Province and train Chinese guerrillas. Sinks shares several anecdotes about his time in China. When the war ended, he went to Shanghai before heading back to the US in November.